The present invention relates to communications, and more particularly, to a system and method which provides personalized assistance by allowing a user to preprogram a contact database such that the user can quickly reach a live customer service representative who can search the personalized database and connect the user to his or her desired destination or arrange to perform a service or purchase an item.
Society's demand for virtually instantaneous access to information, and the need to quickly contact others is constantly increasing. To meet this demand, personal information manager (PIM) software for various types of computers, personal digital assistants (PDA) and global communication networks, such as the Internet, have been developed which facilitate access to data. For example, a person may have contact and telephone numbers stored in their PDA or electronic organizer, such that they can quickly determine the phone number of the person they wish to reach. Similarly, they may have a PIM database on their laptop which contains the same information, such that the PIM and PDA databases are harmonized, i.e., synchronized. Recently developed Internet software allows a user to harmonize a PIM contact information database with an Internet web site.
While the contact data may be available to the user, the data may not be readily accessible, or may be voluminous, thereby requiring the user to search through the contact data in order to determine the telephone number of the person they wish to reach. For example, a user driving in their car who wishes to determine the telephone number of another person must pull to the side of the road, or risk getting into an accident, in order to boot up their PC or interact with their PDA. This arrangement is dangerous and inefficient.
The proliferation of telephone communication technologies, including cellular (mobile) telephone technology, extends the ability of an individual to contact another to virtually any location in any situation. For example, a cellular telephone user delayed by traffic, or in an emergency, can contact others without the need to seek out a pay telephone or other means of communications, provided they know the telephone number of the party whom they wish to contact. The environmental conditions surrounding the individual's use of the telephone, whether cellular or wire-based, does not always lend itself to easy retrieval of telephone numbers and contact information.
For example, an individual may program the contact data and telephone numbers into their cellular telephone and use the keypad of the cellular telephone to search through the stored database to locate and dial the desired number. This is often difficult when the user is driving an automobile, or is in another situation which demands their entire undivided attention. Even where the individual is not in a situation where their undivided attention is required, the individual may not want to fumble with their PDA or telephone, or boot up their personal computer (PC), to search for and access contact data.
Technologies have also been developed, such as voice activated dialing, which allows a user to initiate a dialing sequence by speaking the name of the individual whom they wish to contact into the telephone dialing unit. Voice activated dialing systems use speech recognition patterning to search through a stored contact database to initiate dialing. These technologies, however, typically require that the individual use a specific telephone, for example, a cellular telephone, which they have programmed to recognize their voice and have created a database of associated contact names and numbers. In other words, an individual typically cannot employ the use of voice activated dialing if they use a telephone or device which is not equipped to recognize their speech pattern. Network-based voice recognition systems are also cumbersome to use. Their operability is unreliable, and these systems are difficult and cumbersome to configure. In addition, these systems offer limited functionality, typically serving as mere dialing units. Voice activated dialing technology, therefore, limits the flexibility of a user to contact another person or arrange for the performance of personal services.
In sum, existing technologies allow individuals the ability to carry large volumes of information on their person, or access large volumes of information, and to communicate with others from virtually any location. However, these technologies do not allow the individual a quick, safe and efficient way to initiate contact with another from any location which supports cellular or wire-based telephony.